Green v. State

(for the majority).

These are appeals from convictions of robbery. The single question raised by the appeals is whether or not the defendants were prejudiced by calling as a witness for the State the individual who had acted as interpreter for the victim of the crime.

The victim was a migrant farm worker who spoke no English. The labor contractor and boss of the migrant labor camp acted as interpreter during the direct and cross-examination of the victim. One issue of fact was the amount of money the victim had on his person at the time of the crime. The interpreter at the call of the State,…